Computers and computer-based devices have become a necessary tool for many applications throughout the world. Typewriters and slide rules have become obsolete in light of keyboards coupled with sophisticated word-processing applications and calculators that include advanced mathematical functions/capabilities. Moreover, computers that were once used solely for analyzing data have, over time, been transformed into multi-functional, multi-purpose machines utilized for contexts ranging from business applications to multi-media entertainment. Costs of such computing mechanisms have also trended downward, rendering personal computers ubiquitous throughout many portions of the world.
While computers and personal computing devices have pervaded society as a means of communication, a need has grown substantially for ways in which to protect information transmitted between computing devices. For example, most modern email and/or text messaging systems employ some form of encryption in order to ensure that unintended recipients cannot view the content of the message. There are two main forms of encryption: symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption. The latter form is also known as “public-key” encryption.
A cryptographic system, for instance, uses two keys to encrypt a message. A public key associated with an intended recipient, which is known to all users of the messaging system, can be employed by a sender to initially encrypt the message, and an intended recipient can be endowed with a private key, known only to the intended recipient, to download/decrypt the message. A major drawback of public-key encryption systems is that a device must always be connected to a messaging server in order to retrieve a public key when a user sends a message intended for encryption.
Accordingly, an unmet need exists in the art for systems and/or methodologies that overcome the aforementioned deficiencies.